The Simplified Investor

Given the sorry state of the market these days, lots of investors are looking for so-called “recession-proof” investments - companies that will perform consistently in bull runs and bear markets to keep their money secure.  What better place to look than a company that dedicates itself to safekeeping?  Iron Mountain (NYSE:IRM) helps customers store and discard paper documents securely.  In effect, this means driving a van to a customer’s location, filling it with documents in boxes that IRM has sold to its customers, then driving them to a secure location to be retrieved when the company needs them, or shredded when the docs have outlived their usefulness.
(more…)

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) reported earnings today - and for the 69th straight quarter, the airline turned a profit. Its quarterly net income increased 15% from a year ago, to $321 million. These results are worth a closer look, considering the rest of the major airlines lost a combined $6 billion in the second quarter. How does Southwest stay in the black as the rest of its peers bleed red? The secret - it hedges its fuel prices better than anyone in the business

(more…)

It seems curious at first when a bank reports losses of $9B, as Wachovia (NYSE:WB) did today, and its stock price isn’t punished. It’s even more counter-intuitive when the company’s stock price goes up, as it did after Wachovia said it lost $8.9B in the second quarter of 2008. Despite the sour news, Wachovia was up over in 15% this afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange. Why are investors rewarding the beat-up bank with a share price boost? A closer look at Wachovia’s recent history helps solve the WB mystery and explains why its investors are still riding high.

(more…)